The connected weather radar concept allows a ground device of a weather data collection and prediction system to acquire timely and accurate meteorological information from commercial, private, or other aircraft equipped with weather radar and other sensors. The information received from the aircraft may serve as a supplement to other ground and/or space-based data sources. A connected weather system may acquire weather data from multiple sources, including aircraft, for ground aggregation and analysis. The synthesized weather data may then be uplinked to aircraft in a given area, for example, to aid in avoiding weather hazards, to plan routes, to choose an altitude for a more comfortable ride for passengers, or other such uses. A system that downlinks weather data from aircraft based on a “request and respond” mechanism typically results in multiple request and response sessions, with the downlinked data often containing a significant portion of low value or redundant information. Datalink bandwidth can be a limited resource, and a request and respond mechanism may consume valuable bandwidth transmitting low value data.